Pay back
by freelymovingbreeze
Summary: When the boys go out for a little more than a pint at the pub they wake up the next morning to find Rick has failed to return home, then a letter arrives for Vyvyan in the mail...
1. Chapter 1

Rick looked around trying to locate his housemates in the crowded pub that was the 'Kebab and calculator' but no matter where he looked he just couldn't seem to find them.

It had started out as a quite night at home; they were all bored so Mike suggested they 'go down the pub for a pint of party.' They'd all agreed of course, none of them wanted to be stuck at the house a second longer. They walked to the pub in silence, each of them imagining how the evening would play out. However half way to the pub Rick began to feel an uneasy feeling develop in his stomach. He kept it to himself though, he didn't want the others thinking he had chickened out and had just made some lame excuse. As soon as they reached the pub Vyvyan had disappeared into the already massive crowd. Mike followed suite and Neil muttered something about 'meeting warlock' before he too had buggered off into the crowd. And so Rick was left alone, shortly after his supposed friends' swift departure he sat himself down in an empty booth and began writing poems in his notebook. _Stars, like fireflies trapped in jars, Stars made up of_... Although writing poems helped to pass the time, it did not ease the uneasy feeling which if anything had slightly worsened. After a while Rick shut his poetry book and contemplated going home, the night had been a complete and utter waste to him and the odd feeling in his stomach hadn't improved.

After a while he finally glimpsed Vyvyan through the crowds. Rick left the still empty booth behind and made his way over to the flame headed student. "Vyvyan?" The feeling in Ricks stomach intensified immensely, "VYVYAN?!" Vyvyan turned to face Rick. "What do you want 'Prick'?"

"I just thought I'd let you know I'm going home."

"Why?"

"Because I feel funny and tonight has been an utter waste of time."

"No I mean why would you let me know you're going home?"

Vyvyan stood there standing at Rick with a dumbfounded look on his face. "Just because I can Vyvyan!" Rick replied.

Vyvyan just sort of snorted in response before turning back around to talk to his friends. Satisfied, Rick turned to the exit to leave only to see someone he didn't recognize watching him from the crowd. To say watching was an understatement, it was more of a deep stare, it was like he wanted something and would take it at the first opportunity. When the stranger realized Rick had spotted them they turned around and disappeared into the crowd. Rick began to feel more than just the uneasy feeling in his stomach. When he left the pub and was only a short distance away the doors opened and Rick turned, curious to see if it could be any of his friends returning home. However what he saw was the man he had seen watching him in the pub open the door and begin walking towards him. Rick turned to the direction of his houses street and began to walk, faster than he had been before. He didn't want to draw attention to himself so he kept walking at a fast pace rather than running. He risked looking behind him and saw the man was now running down the path towards him. Rick again increased his walking speed hoping the man was just in a rush and would just ignore him. However when the man reached him he didn't do as Rick had hoped.

Rick cried out in both surprise and shock as the man pushed him onto the footpath from behind and held him down. While another man Rick hadn't seen yet appeared out of the shadows with a short length of rope. Rick was visibly scared now, and started to struggle as much as he could. The second man just shook his head and began binding Rick hands behind his back. It was then that Rick lost it "HELP HELP! SOMEBODY! IM BEING KIDNAP-" Ricks plea for help was cut off by a patch of masking tape being placed over his mouth. Rick looked up at his assailants with pleading eyes. "Come on kid get up!" Rick felt himself being pulled to his feet. Just as a car came speeding around the corner. Rick looked down the road where he could see a few people gathering in front of the pub, maybe it was closing time, or maybe they'd heard him yell. Either way it wouldn't do much good now. Rick was roughly shoved into the back of the car and re-tied however this time to the seat. He felt tears threatening to stream down his face, why was this happening to him? One man sat next to him and two people sat in the front.

Once the car had started moving, the men who had abducted him began to talk. "You sure he's the right kid?" That was the second man "Positive. I saw him talk to Vyv just before he left." Rick was confused what could Vyvyan possibly have to do with all this. "He is a cutie though, isn't he? You can see why Vyv hangs out with him." Rick was shaking now, they were criticizing his looks. "Take the tape off." Rick felt a mix of pain and relief as the tape was pulled from his mouth. However that was replaced by fear as he realized he was now probably going to have to talk to the men who kidnapped him. "What's your name kid?"

"...Rick." He hated being scared he could hear the fear in his voice.

"That's a cute name, suits you."

Rick wasn't sure whether to feel complimented or insulted by the fact a man probably 5-8 years older than him was hitting on him. So he made no response. The man stared at him the whole length of their journey. Although Rick tried asking quite a few times where they were actually going, but every time he was met with silence. He thought about his friends, did they know he was missing, were they worried? At some point he must have fallen asleep from the length of the car trip and the trauma, it was late anyway, way past his bedtime. He woke up and realized the man sitting next to him was untying him from the seat because they'd arrived at their destination. Rick recognized that it was a house and that it was probably abandoned, but that was all he could deduce about it.

He didn't know where in London they were or if they were even still in London. He was led up to the second floor of the house where his hands were untied and he was roughly shoved inside a rather bare bedroom and the door was locked. Rick looked around for some way to escape, but saw nothing. The window had been nailed shut and the only piece of furniture in the room was an old bed and mattress with no sheets. Rick still didn't know why he was in such a terrible place, he knew Vyvyan was involved somehow, but that was really all he knew. He thought about how much time had passed since he left the pub; it was close to closing time when he left so it was probably closed now. It depended on how long he'd been sleeping really. Although he didn't trust his captors, Rick still felt tired and decided if anything a nap would be good for him. So he lay down on the bed and fell into an uncomfortable and edgy sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Neil woke up to the sound of the mail being delivered. He looked at the clock and realized it was half past 2 in the afternoon. After shouting out a quick wake-up call to his housemates and getting dressed, he went downstairs to get the mail. _That's funny_ thought Neil _its not even mail day._ When Neil reached the mail he realized there was only one letter with the word 'Vyv' written on the front. Neil placed the letter on the table and began making a breakfast of cornflakes and lentils. After a few minutes Mike and Vyvyan came downstairs and sat down at the table. "Rick!? Are you coming down for breakfast?" Neil shouted the question upstairs, but received no response. "Hey...um guys do you think that like maybe one of you could check on Rick?" Mike didn't say anything, but slowly got up from the table and walked upstairs. After a while he came back down. "He's not there Neil." He said simply before sitting down. "Oh, um ok. Oh Vyvyan a letter came for you." Neil gestured to the letter lying on the table. Wordlessly Vyvyan picked up the letter and tore it open. Inside were two items; a photo and a note. Vyvyan picked up the note and read it, as soon as he finished he picked up the photo to get a better look. "Guys," he started, "I've found Rick." Neil and Mike both gave him quizzical looks before Vyvyan showed them the photo. It showed Rick bound to the backseat of a car, in a state of what appeared to be sleep, but for all his friends knew he could have been knocked out. Sitting next to Rick was an older looking man who looked like he was about to kiss the sociology student on the cheek. Only Vyvyan recognized the man however, "Daniel?!" He shrieked, "I knew he was a going to get back at me somehow, but this..." Mike picked up the discarded note and read the hurriedly scrawled handwriting _**'You know what I want Vyvyan. Give it to me and the kid doesn't suffer. You have 5 days, no police.**__**Ps. He sure looks cute when he's sleeping doesn't he?**_' Mike noticed there was also a phone number at the bottom of the note and put it down, "What have you done now Vyv?" He asked, his face showing an emotion rarely ever seen, concern. Vyvyan swallowed nervously, "I may have rigged his final exam results, so now he has to retake the whole year and he told me if I didn't pay for the tuition, he'd make me pay. Literally." Mike sighed, "It shouldn't be too hard, I can pull a few strings. How much does he want?" "£2, 000000" Mike almost spat out the tea he was drinking, "What?" He gasped. "Well the thing is, he says he had all this money saved up for a massive gap year next year, but now he has to spend the money on Uni." Mike looked shocked, "How are we supposed to gather up £2, 000000 in such a small frame of time? I mean I might be able to acquire £10,000 maybe more, but £2, 000000 is just nuts!" They sat in silence for a small amount of time before Neil shot out of his seat, "Guys, I've just had a fantastic idea! Right you ready for this? What if we ring the number at the bottom of the page?" Mike shrugged. "It's worth a shot I guess." After a small discussion they decided that Vyvyan would make the call. So he stepped up to the phone and dialed the number.

Rick woke up, stretched and realized he was still in the hands of the awful men who had taken him from the streets of London the previous night. Slowly he got up from the bed and paced around the room , the uneasy feeling had returned to his stomach. It made him realize how hungry he was. After a while he heard a phone ring somewhere outside the room, he stopped pacing and sat down on the bed, trying to listen to outside the small room he was confined to. Suddenly the man who had followed him out of the pub appeared at the door. "Okay kid, I'll give you the choice. We do this the easy way." He gestured out to the hall, "Our my way." After that he seemed to stand at the doorway waiting for Rick to decide. Rick looked at the man, he was taller than Neil! He looked strong too, he looked like someone you wouldn't mess with. Eventually Rick asked the Question, "How different from the easy way is your way?" Rick may have just been curious, but the man took it as though Rick had just accepted some kind of impossible challenge. He smiled at Rick, not in a nice way and kicked the door shut. Rick watched and felt fear slowly overcome him and began moving slowly to the corner of the bed. The man walked up to Rick in a few strides and stood before him. The man then reached into his pocket and pulled out two lengths of rope. "It's very different." The man finally answered Ricks question. In one second Rick made the choice. Run. He leapt from the bed and made a mad dash for the door, he didn't get terribly far however as the man ran up behind him and picked him up by the scruff of his neck. Rick struggled in the mans' grip, but it was to no avail. The man carried Rick back over to the bed and dropped him on top of it. He then swiftly grabbed Rick's wrists and began to bind them in front of him. It didn't matter how much Rick struggled, he couldn't break the man's vice like grip. He then tied Rick's feet with the second length of rope. He then grabbed a roll of masking tape from his pocket and taped a patch to the brunettes' mouth. He then picked up Rick and began carrying him over his shoulder. Even though his limbs were tied Rick continued to struggle, but it did nothing.

He could hear someone talking on the phone in the distance and they appeared to be getting louder by the second. Eventually they walked into the room where the man who had appeared second the previous night was talking on the telephone. "...There's no way we can compromise! You have potentially ruined my life £2, 000000 that's all I want, and you better give it to me if you want to see that cute little Rick again..." Rick watched the man as he was retied to a chair. 'Is £2, 000000 my ransom? How can they possibly be expected to pay that?' The man on the phone focused his gaze on Rick, "Yes, he's here. Would you like to speak to him?" There was a brief silence before the man walked over to Rick and ripped the tape off his face. "Two minutes" was all he said before freeing one of Rick's arms with a pocket knife and handing him the phone. Rick quickly elevated the phone to his ear, "Hello?" He asked nervously

"Rick?" It was Vyvyan. "Vyvyan? What's going on? Why am I hewre? What were they saying before about £2, 000000?" Vyvyan told Rick rather quickly about his predicament, who was involved what their names were (Fergus was the man who appeared first and was Daniels right-hand man, Daniel was the second man.) and how they were trying to figure out where he was. "Do you know anything about were you might be?" Vyvyan asked. "Nothing, apart from the fact it's an abandoned house. I don't even know if I'm in London." Rick replied. "Are you injured?" Vyvyan asked. He was met with silence. "Rick?" He could hear someone shouting in the background who sounded like Rick, but no one talking through the phone. Then he heard a faint voice in the background, "Take him back to his room and leave him, I'll deal with him later." Before he heard someone speak directly into the phone, "To answer your question Vyv, no he isn't injured. At least for now." It was then that Vyvyans' instincts kicked in. He had heard his friend shout for help, he knew what they were planning to put him through. Rick was also the youngest out of them all, so he said something that surprised Daniel, Michael and Neil who were listening to the conversation and himself. "Don't you dare touch him!" It was more a command than anything else. "...I can't make any promises." Came the cool and calculated reply before Daniel hung up.


	3. Chapter 3

Vyvyan slammed the phone back on the wall. He was about to kick it off the wall when he realized they would need it to communicate with Daniel and possibly Rick. So he just turned around and broke the coffee table into a million pieces instead. Mike and Neil watched him with cautious eyes. Vyvyan spent around 30mins destroying everything on the lower storey of the share house before finally storming upstairs and turning his anger on his pillow. Eventually he calmed down and just lay there face down on the bed. 'Why did I even need to pull that stupid prank? Sure Daniels' a complete Bastard and needed to be taught a lesson, but making him fail his final exam?' After a while Vyvyan fell asleep, but it brought no break from the guilt gnawing at his mind.

Downstairs Neil and Mike were quietly sharing a cup of tea and talking. Something they'd never actually done before by choice. "What can we do Mike? I mean we have to get Rick back, it's not right to just you know leave him there. Especially when in the picture that man was..." Neil trailed off. "I know Neil we do have to get him back. But how can we? We've got no cash and he said no compromise!" Mike head was resting on the kitchen table. There was an extended silence "We could always try and actually find where he is and rescue him Michael." Neil suggested, "What other option do we have?" Mike looked up from the table, "Look Neil, I like your' thinking, but I'm going to sleep on it." Mike left his position at the table and began to make his way upstairs. "But Mike it's 3:15 in the afternoon, and you just woke up!" Mike retreated a few steps and looked Neil in the eye. "Shut up Neil." Was all he said before making his way up the stairs.

Rick thrashed about as he was propelled back into his room by the man now known as Fergus. The door was then locked and shut. Rick sat on his sorry excuse for a bed and contemplated the brief days' events. '_£2, 000000 for ransom?! I'll never get back home. I'll never see any of those fascists ever again!_' Rick suddenly had a brainwave. '_What happens if my ransom isn't paid? Are they going to kill me?!_' Rick started to panic. He was going to die and it was all Vyvyans fault. Without warning the door to his room suddenly opened and the man known as Daniel strode in carrying a tray of food. The door was shut and locked from the outside after Daniel entered. Rick stood his ground and watched as Daniel walked over to the bed and set down the plate of food. No one moved. Rick stared at the food, he was starving! He hadn't eaten for at least 36 hours, but he didn't trust the delicious looking meal of Fish & chips in front of him. For all he knew it could be poisoned. "Eat." Daniel spat out the simple command, breaking the silence. Rick shook his head, "'m not hungry." He mumbled. It was at that moment that Ricks' stomach rumbled showing off his lie and making him blush. "You sound hungry. Eat" Daniel replied smugly. Rick gave in and approached the bed; he slowly sat down and picked a chip up off the plate. "I-Is it poisoned?" Rick asked hesitantly. Daniel rolled his eyes, "If I wanted you dead I'd let you starve to death, now eat your food!" Rick began to eat the plate of food and within 10 minutes the plate was empty. It unnerved him that Daniel had watched him eat the whole time. "So." Rick began, "You say you don't want to kill me." Daniel nodded, "That would be correct." Rick swallowed nervously, "Then...what happens if you don't get the money frwom Vyvyan? What happens to me?" Daniel thought for a moment before responding, "You stay here." Rick froze. "...I beg your pardon?" Daniel smiled at him, "You stay here until I graduate and then when I move to France you go with me." Rick looked horrified, "B-b-but you can't do that I have a life! I have a future, a home." Rick realized that tears had begun to seep from his eyes and roll down his cheeks. "I have frwiends! You can't make me leave!" He shouted desperately. Daniel just smirked at him, "I can and I will." He replied calmly. With that he walked over to the door and knocked on it, signaling he was ready to leave. He watched the still crying sociology student with examining eyes before the door opened and he made his exit. As soon he was gone Rick let the full extent of his sorrow show. The news that he would just have to leave the life he was steadily building for himself behind and be taken to another country and life against his will just so Vyvyan would learn his lesson. He cried and he screamed he cursed Vyvyan and wished his parents were still alive so they could take him home and tell him everything was fine, but he knew it wasn't. Thinking of his parents only served to make him sadder, as memories of his childhood, good and bad, slowly came back to him. Slowly he calmed down and sat down on the bed, tears continuing to run down his face. He soon fell asleep, dreaming of a time when his parents could save him from every possible danger and tell him they loved him every day. If anyone had been in the room at that moment they would have seen that for the first time since Rick arrived, he smiled.


	4. Chapter 4

**Just a quick A/N **

**Thx for Reading, the reviews, Favs and follows guys it keeps me writing new chapters for you to enjoy. Just thought I'd let you know, this chapter starts with Daniels perspective.**

**Enjoy!**

It seemed all too easy. To me the hardest part had been napping the kid and even that hadn't been too difficult, it was just a matter of timing. The easiest part had been telling Vyvyan about the whereabouts of his missing friend, like luring a mouse to a trap. I wasn't an idiot; I knew that Vyvyan would never be able to pay the ridiculous amount of money I'd asked him for. The truth was I didn't need it. If he did get me the money it would just be a bonus, but my real plan was to teach him a lesson he would never forget. Which was why even if he did pay me the money, I still wasn't going to give his friend back. Honestly, I'd already enrolled in another school in the south of France and every intention of studying there. Vyvyan would never find out of course, he would probably launch a ridiculous rescue mission only to find us long gone.

I couldn't help but smirk. Rick thought he still had another year to spend here yet at least. A year filled with hope that someone would find him; I couldn't imagine how much it would break him to find we were leaving in a few days. Maybe I'd take a photo when I told him and leave it for Vyvyan to find, a sort of last memory.

Mike was strangely the first person to wake in the share house the next morning. He surprised himself when he glanced at the wall clock and found it was only 7:00. By his memory that was the earliest he had ever woken up. He had initially woken in good spirits, but then the events of the previous day rushed back to him. He slumped back against the bed. His usual cocky smile replaced by a concerned frown. He didn't often worry about Rick and he supposed that he if hadn't grown fond of having him around then he probably wouldn't be as concerned, but recently he had started to see Rick as the little brother he never had. Even if he still treated him the same as always, he was looking out for him differently. Neil's words still rang in his ears. _'We could always try and actually find where he is and rescue him Michael_.' Mike thought about it, to him it seemed like the option with the highest chance of working. It was either that or try and win the lottery and they could keep the extra cash, but what were the odds of that working? With his decision made Mike strode into the bathroom, had a bath, washed his hair, combed his hair, sprayed his hair and got dressed into his usual style of dress before heading downstairs to wait for the others.

He didn't have to wait very long, before long Vyvyan and Neil walked down the stairs it seems they too had been restless sleepers to be up this early. While Neil made tea (As usual) Mike and Vyv talked at the kitchen table. "You're telling me…" Mike began, "That you have no idea where he could be."

Vyvyan shrugged sleepily, "I didn't say that, I just said I don't know where to start. I have a few ideas."

"Such as?" Mike and Neil were now looking at him expectantly.

"Well, his house for one...that's as far I've gotten really."

Vyvyan looked at them sheepishly. Mike and Neil looked a little shocked.

"Is that all Vyv?" Mike managed.

"I just told you that's all I've come up with so far." Mike could hear the restrained anger in Vyvyan's voice.

It took a while for the information to process in Michaels head. Vyvyan was the only person who knew anything about Daniel and Fergus, yet it seemed he knew virtually nothing. Mike knew there were two things he could choose to do now. He could lose his temper at the fact that Vyvyan knew almost nothing, or he could do what he'd always done and keep his cool.

"Alright then." Vyvyan and Neil looked across to Mike, "What are we waiting for; Christmas? Let's go find Rick." Mike watched smiles blossom and spread across both Vyvyan's and Neil's faces as they nodded in agreement and Vyvyan led them out to his precious 'Ford Anglia'.

"So where does this guy live Vyvyan?" Mike asked as he got in the car.

"Quiet far actually 'bout 2 hours away. Near that other pub on the other side of town, you know 'the frog and Milkman'." Vyvyan replied.

The drive to Daniels house was a tense one, no one spoke, and the only movement came from when Vyvyan turned the steering wheel or pushed the accelerator and brakes. Finally they arrived at a shabby little house in a shabby little street in outer London. Vyvyan stopped the car and they all exited staring at the home in front of them. Vyvyan walked up and knocked on the door. When no one answered he kicked it in. Mike and Neil followed him closely and raised no objection to the destruction of property.

"DANIEL?" Vyvyan screeched, they waited. No reply. Vyvyan barked out the order to search the house and see if they could find anything of significance.

They were halfway through their search of the bathroom when they heard the sound of a car. Vyvyan signaled for them to stop what they were doing and they listened, suddenly the sound of the front door being thrown open sounded throughout the house and they all scattered to hiding spots. Mike threw a towel over his head and stood in the corner behind the door, Vyvyan jumped in the linen closet and Neil stood behind the shower curtain.

The sound of heavy footsteps echoed through the house, after a few minutes Vyvyan stuck his head out of the closet and listened carefully. Nothing. Carefully, he stepped out of the closet and walked on tippy-toe out of the bathroom. There was still no sign of intruder. Suddenly, he felt himself get grabbed from behind and he yelped in surprise. He turned to find he was staring at non-other than Fergus. Regaining his focus he attempted to land a punch on Fergus's face, only to have his fist caught mid-way through the air. He was about to land a punch with his other arm when Fergus pinned it to his side, but he wasn't giving in that easily lashing out he kicked his assailant satisfyingly hard between the legs. Fergus doubled over in pain, but refused to release his grip. Suddenly a fist flew into Vyvyan's vision and smacked into the side of Fergus's face knocking the older man out cold. He turned and gasped in surprise to find his savior none other than, Neil.

"Look, just tell us where Rick is and we'll untie you." Mike stated simply

Fergus looked up at him, "I won't tell you anyway."

Vyvyan looked angrily confused, "Why not?"

"Because if you find the kid before the deadline I don't get my pay."

"Well whatever you're being payed, we'll double it." Mike smiled and crossed his fingers behind his back and signaled for the others to do the same.

"You promise?" The man looked hopeful

"Promise." Replied Mike.

"Alright. Number 17 Bastard lane."

"Brilliant! That's not that far from here" Exclaimed Vyvyan, "Come on!"

The group of three ran towards the door only to be stopped by a voice, "Wait! Wait! What about my pay?" They turned to look at the still 'bound to a chair man' before them.

"Oh yea… Er how much did we agree to-"

"£10,000"  
>"You'll get your money when we get Rick." Mike replied cooly.<p>

With that being said the three housemates left the man bound to the chair in Daniels house and proceeded to get their friend back.


	5. Chapter 5

Rick woke to the sound of the door his room being slammed open and the rough feeling of someone pulling him from the bed. He opened his mouth to complain only to have it covered with someone else's hand. Having only just woken up he was still disorientated and in terms of physical rebellion couldn't do much more than weakly flail his arms around. He realized that the one attacking him was Daniel and became suddenly aware that there were two other people in the room, up until now he had believed that Fergus had been Daniel's only lackey. Daniel was shouting out commands to both of them which Rick only caught bits and pieces of, "Get the crate… one of you get some rope!" Just the mention of the word rope made Rick jolt to full awareness, the idea of being restrained with it again made his skin crawl. He was suddenly throwing all the energy he had at an effort to break free from Daniel's grasp. It did little to help however, Daniel's iron like grip around his torso holding him where he was. Before he knew it he was once again experiencing having his hands tied in front of him and his mouth gagged with masking tape. It seemed that as a precaution they had also tied his feet together.

Rick couldn't do much as one of the lackeys then proceeded to pick him up and carry him over shoulder. Rick slowed down his struggling to take to note of where they were going, as far as he knew he had never been in the area of the house he was being carried through. As the man walked on he discovered it led to the garage, inside it was the very car he had been abducted in alongside a large wooden box. Rick could never have guessed what happened next, instead of seating him the car like he expected them to, they dumped him in the box (Still tied and gagged) and shut the lid. Unsure of how to respond, he froze; his eyes were frantically scanning the darkness around him when he heard the sound of a drill. He tensed up and began to try and stand up, so he could push the lid off and get out, when the drill he had heard starting up seconds ago burst through one of the crate walls.

If it were possible, Rick would have screamed to unwittingly let his kidnappers know how much it had frightened him, but all that escaped through the gag was a muffled yelp. When the drill was pulled out from the box a face peered through to look at Rick, "Can't have you suffocating now, can we?" He asked mockingly. All Rick could do was stare back at him, hatred and fear mixing in his blue eyes to meet the unknown man's brown eyes which were filled with nothing but mirth and amusement. The man continued to drill several small air holes in the box that Rick was trapped in, before he began to nail the lid shut. Rick knew that any hope he had of escaping was useless. There was nothing he could do; he didn't know where he was going, why he was going there or if he had any chance of getting rescued. It was a few minutes later that Rick realized he was crying and he made no attempt to stop it; instead he adjusted himself so that he was lying down on the cold, hard wooden floor of the crate. He lay there for ages crying, his mind blank, thinking about nothing apart from how helpless he felt before finally falling into a light sleep, ready to wake at the slightest noise.

Vyvyan felt uneasy as the car pulled up outside the address Fergus had provided them with. He didn't pay much attention to the details of the building or the area around it instead he marched up to the front door and kicked it in. He then turned to face Mike and Neil. "Do you think this the right place?" He asked them.

"You know Vyvyan you could've asked us that before you kicked in the door, right?" Mike gave him a questioning look.

"I know that Michael, I just like kicking doors in."

"Well that's okay then." Replied Mike

"So is this the right place or not?" Repeated Vyvyan

Mike shrugged, "Can't hurt to try."

With that they entered the house; they walked around as quietly as possible searching the lower level of the two storey building. After a few minutes they heard the sound of voices coming from the back of the house. They followed the sound until they reached the kitchen, where three men (one of them Daniel) were sitting. They waited at the door and listened to the ongoing conversation, "So we'll get our pay by Monday?" One of the two new men asked.

"Guaranteed, £10,000 **each** by Monday." Daniel replied

"Alright then, but if our money isn't through by Monday, we will find you and make you pay double of what you've already promised and we'll tell the pigs about that kid you're going to take to France."

Daniel seemed unnaturally calm upon receiving the threat, "Of course, that is completely understandable, but I can promise you. You will be paid by Monday."

With that said Daniel shook hands with the two men and showed them to the front door which the found lying open. The men left, leaving Daniel puzzled over the broken door. The boy's watched him from the cupboard they had been forced to pile into when the men had started walking their way. "What do we do Vyv?" Neil asked

"Well, I don't think he's armed, so when I give the signal (he made a un-miss able hand gesture), we all split up, run and try to find Rick. He can only chase one of us after all." Vyvyan explained, Neil and Mike agreed and waited nervously. Suddenly Vyvyan gave the signal and they all bolted out of the cupboard and scattered in different directions. They heard the distant sound of someone shouting out '_hey_', but pushed it out of their minds. Mike ran up the stairs, closely followed by Neil, whilst Vyvyan continued searching downstairs. No one looked back, so one saw Daniel bi-pass all of them and sprint to the garage…


	6. Chapter 6

Daniel would have never admitted to anyone at that moment that he was scared. There was no way in 1000 years that he could have expected Vyvyan to find him so quickly. He ran to the garage, he had to leave. Making sure that the door was locked behind him he tried single-handedly lifting the large crate that Rick was trapped in into the nearby getaway car, but it didn't work. He had actually paid more people to come and help, but they weren't due for another fifteen minutes. Sighing in anger and frustration, he grabbed a crowbar off the tool rack and used it to open the crate. When he finally pried off the lid he saw two blue eyes staring at him, he grabbed Rick's arm and pulled him to his feet. He could tell Rick was scared, but was surprisingly doing little in terms of resistance. He hoisted Rick over his shoulder and began carrying him to the car, suddenly someone started hammering their fists on the door leading to the garage. "OPEN UP DANIEL!" Vyvyan voice rang through the room and Rick reacted almost immediately. Within mille-seconds he was putting everything he had into breaking free from Daniels grasp. He even managed to tear his gag off and was yelling for help, "Vyvyan! I'm in here! Vyvya-" Daniel swiftly managed to cover to mouth with his hand, but Rick had done enough. Soon Michael and Neil joined Vyvyan in pounding on the door. Daniel finally succeeded in carrying Rick to the car and (For the time being) used the seatbelt to keep him in place.

Rick resumed his shouting, though could feel his hopes slowly slipping away, his housemates were right outside the door, yet they could not reach him. If Daniel managed to get away today, then it was impossible to say if they would ever find him again. He was expecting Daniel to just jump in the car and go, but it seemed he was looking for something to keep him in place more securely. Rick tried undoing the buckle with his still bound hands while Daniel was looking and in fact succeeded, he was trying to figure out how to escape the car when Daniel pushed him back in place and attached a dog collar to his neck and tied the lead to the headrest. Rick felt embarrassed at the thought of wearing a dog collar, but knew if his housemates could break the door he wouldn't have to for long. Suddenly, Vyvyan flew through the wall closely followed by Mike and Neil who climbed through the hole made by Vyvyan. Rick couldn't help, but smile a little at the sight of salvation.

Daniel had reached pure panic mode he was moments from making a getaway, but he knew if he moved a muscle he would likely be swarmed by Vyvyan, Mike & Neil. Nobody spoke, nobody even dared to breathe. Suddenly Daniel ran for it, attempting to reach the driver's side of the car before anyone could reach him. Neil & Vyv were after him immediately; Mike however ran to where Rick was and attempted to undo the degrading collar and the rope tying his hands and feet together. Vyvyan in the meantime had tackled Daniel to the ground and Neil was assisting in holding him down. It only took one punch from Vyvyan to knock him out cold. Mike appeared behind the pair with a dehydrated and starving Rick leaning heavily on his shoulders. "Here Mike, let me take him." Neil offered due to the height smaller difference between him and Rick.

They all stood there staring at the unconscious Daniel lying on the floor in front of them, unexpectedly Rick began to laugh. His housemates stared at him as though he were mad, "Now Rick" started Mike, "I know we all like laughing at jokes, but I don't recall ever hearing one. So why are you laughing? Have you gone mad from being here? Did we come too late?" Rick wasn't certain, but he thought he could detect a small hint of panic in Mike's voice.

"No, Mike I'm not going mad. I'm just so happy is all. It's over, we can go home and things can go back to normal, well as normal as they get." Rick replied, smiling.

Vyvyan felt like he should object to ricks sappy speech, but he decided he could let the girl have his moment. "So what do we do with him then?" He said instead, gesturing to Daniel who was lying motionless on the floor.

"Police?" Mike suggested

"Nah," Vyvyan shook his head, "he'd bribe his way out in no time."

"Then what?"

"… I don't know…"

"Well we don't just leave him here!" Rick sounded panicked, "What if he comes after me again?"

"I wouldn't worry about that." An unknown voice interrupted the four and they turned around to find a pair of men standing them. Both had bigger builds and looked much stronger than any of the four boys.

Suddenly they punched Mike and Vyvyan knocking them to the ground out cold. They turned to face Rick and Neil who both looked as though they wanted to bolt from the room; however neither had the ability to do so. It was over in a flash, one of the two men grabbed a screaming Rick while the other left Neil unconscious with a bleeding nose. Rick was once again bundled into the car, however instead of being restrained by rope and tape one of the men sat next to him while the other woke Daniel. Rick hoped one of his housemates would wake up, but they were all out for the count.

"Come on! Let's go!" Daniel began barking commands and they were gone in seconds.


End file.
